Transcript The Meaning of Success in B School

External Opportunities & Getting
the Jobs Most MBAs Miss
Donald Asher
Asher Associates
(415) 543-7130
[email protected]
The Only Three Things
You Need to Know
 You
get jobs by talking to people
 You need 100 leads at all times
 Look for work in channels
Watch for the pink bathrobe story
The Three Pillars of ‘B’ School
Academics
Connections
Job
Search
Why to Network While a Student
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You’re supposed to; it’s part of the
educational process! It’s part of why you are in
school!
Everybody loves a student
The economy could get worse, especially this
year and next
Career exploration now creates job leads later
This Is Easier than You Think…

You can call or email anybody and ask,
“May I know the name of your MBA
recruiter?” Undergrads would ask, “May I know the
name of the person who hires new college graduates?”
Then, you email that person and ask,
 “How can I best get consideration by your
company? What are you most looking
for?”
Respect Hiring Cycles!
1.
2.
3.
How can I submit my resume, and when
will you review them?
When do you expect to begin
interviewing?
When do you expect initial offers might
go out?
Stages of Job Search
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Identify job targets (industry, function, title)
Identify raw leads (companies, people, ideas)
Identify names of specific people
Turn a name into an appointment
Sell in the interview
Stay alive through the selection process
Close the deal
The Four Dynamic Tensions…
 Job
 Salary
 Location
 Effort
If one is really important, you have to be flexible on the others…
Where’s Your Next Job?
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On campus interview cycle
Self-directed search
Your old employer
Don’t blink, because
There is NO other source
Everybody Needs a Back Channel
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Top-half complacency
It’s practice for the future
Maximize benefit of your contacts
The best students gain benefits from multiple
offers
Nobody wants to come out without an offer
International?
 Directory
of Foreign Firms
Operating in the United States
 Directory of American Firms
Operating in Foreign
Countries (3 vol. set)
 www.goinglobal.com
Who Hires Internationals?
Anyone who wants one bad enough, especially for
OPT, also
 www.foreignmba.com
 H1Base.com
 bilingual-jobs.com
 H1visajobs.com
And the U.S. DOL:
 http://ows.doleta.gov/foreign/about.asp
 http://www.flcdatacenter.com/casesearch.asp
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The Guru
Mark B. Rhoads
Attorney at Law
Immigration Practice Group
McCandlish Holton
1111 East Main Street, Suite 1500
Post Office Box 796
Richmond, Virginia 23218-0796
804-775-3824
[email protected]
Internationals – How to Get Started
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Same as everyone else: Alumni, Family,
Friends, Faculty (more on this soon)
Call all your old countrymen and women who
have ever lived in U.S.
Go to all the receptions and info sessions,
even undergrad
Register on social networking spaces
Find alumni from your home country
Why Multiple Channels
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At most MBA programs, about half do not find
internship through on-campus interviewing
Don’t fail to work multiple channels:
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On campus
Self-developed external opportunities
Career fairs
Etc.
Top salary offer (by design) – bottom offer (by default)
Identifying a job target
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Interest alone may not be enough, but…
Friends can open doors that skills and
experience cannot
Remember:
Recruiters are not paid to be creative
The Diamond of Success
(But You Don’t Need to Go Obvious Until March)
Suppliers & Vendors
Competitors
Your Recent Employer
& All Affiliates
Customers &
Clients
Venture Partners &
Consultants
Want something new?
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On campus interview cycle
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Recruiters may accept raw skills and genuine interest
One of the only ways to get easy access to recruiters
Good practice anyway
Aggressive informational interviewing
and self-directed search
–
You find the right people and you get them to talk to you
Three to Five Goals
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“Something to do with green business or
exporting”
vs.
“Broker for industrial-level recycling of postconsumer electronics, as in container loads or
larger, and global trade in such materials”
Undecided?

You cannot afford to leave this room without a
direction…
Building Target Statements
 Industry
 Function
 Title
Building Target Statements
 Industry
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Insurance
Commercial real estate
Electronic components manufacturing
Global commodities trading
Plastics extrusion
Industry is hardest to change, so do it first.
Building Target Statements
 Function
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Operations management
Logistics
Finance
IT & systems
E-Commerce leadership
Sales, marketing, business development
Building Target Statements
 Title
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CFO
CIO
VP Business Development
Pick a next job, rather than ultimate goal
Titles reveal you as an industry insider
– Assistant Editor vs. Editorial Assistant
Building Target Statements
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Industry
Function
Title
Values
Location
Commute
Dress
Hours
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Travel
Autonomy
Tele-work & flex-time
Supervise
New / Old / Large / Small
Compensation
Risk
Opportunity / career path
Alignment
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Your goal must match your plan, your skillset,
your experiences, your personality, and the
real world
The movie industry is in L.A.
Broadway is in New York
There are no part-time jobs for beginning
investment bankers
And you can’t become a ballet dancer now…
Your Targets for This Year
for first years -Dream Internship
Backup Plan
you need 100+ iterations, which
means you will be doing research
Where jobs come from
See the very sophisticated MBA diagram
 The Stacey Factor
 2/3 are contingent (temporary, part-time,
or contract)
 You have to get ahead of the cycle
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A Profound Difference
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The Overt Job Market
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Posted openings anywhere
Job seeker is not “first mover”
The Hidden Job Market
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Jobs that are not yet posted anywhere
Job seeker is “first mover”
How Big Is The Hidden Job Market?
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About half the people who are hired did not
respond to a posted opening
So, about half the job market is the hidden
job market
And only about 1/3 of jobs are posted
online!
See “Sources of Hire”
Sources of External Hire
Rank
Source
%
1
Employee Referrals*
25.6
2
Company Web Site?
20.7
3
Job Boards
12.3
4
Agency / HH / Temp-to-Hire*
7.1
5
Print / Media
6.9
6
Direct Sourcing (Internal Recruiting)*
6.4
7
Re-hires*
5.2
8
College Recruiting
3.8
9
Career Fairs?
2.7
10
Search Engine Ads
2.0
11
Walk Ins*
0.5
12
Other / Don’t Know
7.0
Why Is the HJM Preferred?
Biggest reason:
 Less
competition
The Stacey Factor
Where Jobs Come From
6 Sources of Job Leads
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Networking
Research
Job Fairs
Internet
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Active
Passive
Headhunters
Newspapers
Networking
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It’s about information, not power
Types
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Hiring authorities
Direct referral sources
Centers of influence
Uncle Bob and Aunt Claudene
Don’t forget receptions and job fairs, one of the only
places on the planet to meet a lot of recruiters easily
Research
Business library experts
 Industry directories & association lists
 Hoovers or zapdata or D&B (10+ million)
 Chamber of Commerce
 State Department of Commerce
 Drive by
 Int’l students: see int’l student rep
You don’t have to do this on your own. Get some help!
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Internet
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Active works the same as research
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Passive works in limited cases (more below)
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Find companies in your area of interest
Research companies before any interview
Post and hope
Use the career center lists!
The Problem w/ Job BB
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Intensive competition, 250-to-1 is typical
You have to be perfect
Monster, CareerJournal.com and others like it
Always running behind the cycle
Secret: Trade press and specialty publications
still a great source
Headhunters
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Find people for jobs, not jobs for people
1000+ is generally considered minimum effort
Go to kennedyinfo.com or look at the Directory
of Executive Recruiters, aka “The Red Book”
How to field and/or deflect a HH call
Do NOT expect a recruiter to babysit you, give
you friendly advice, or help you find any job
except one she has an open requisition for
Leave no stone unturned!
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I.D. 50+ companies that are “right on,” and
100-200 “2nd Tier” companies, minimum!
On-campus interviews and search training
Receptions and job fairs (Travel! It’s worth it!)
Alumni networking
Post on all MBA web sites
Plan holiday interviewing junkets
Remember Uncle Bob & Aunt Claudene
Overheads on
Breaking Down the Door
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See your handouts…
Interview Rules
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You will call and confirm the day before
You will research the company before the
meeting
You will arrive exactly 4 minutes early
You will know the plan for the day
You will look your best
Questions they’ll ask you
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The Classics
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Behavioral Interviewing Questions
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Tell me about yourself…
Strengths, weaknesses, preferences
What would your former boss say about you?
Tell me about a time when….
What would you do if…?
Case Questions
Classic interviewing questions
 Tell
me about yourself….
Tell a short business story that leads to the
inevitable conclusion that you are just now
perfectly prepared to contribute to this
company
Behavioral interviewing questions
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Answer the question!
Provide a specific example
Tell a short business story, hopefully one
where you are the hero
Go from the specific to the general, that is,
show that you understand the big picture after
you answer specifically
Case Interview Questions
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Mental gymnastics: How many golf balls in a
747
Case questions: people, product, financials,
may be verbal or written
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How would you improve net revenues?
How would you design a succession plan for the
founder?
See career center for practice and samples
Follow up questions
Does that answer your question?
 Is that what you had in mind?
 How do you do it at your company?
 What approach does your company
favor?
 What are your plans relative to this?
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Questions to ask them
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What are your hiring criteria? Which skills and abilities
are critical for success?
How many interviews do you plan? When will you be
able to extend an offer?
What would you like to see accomplished in the first
few months on the job?
What resources will be available to me to accomplish
my objectives?
How will success be measured?
Salary Negotiations
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Interns are not to negotiate hard for salary
Deflect the issue if it comes up
– “Salary is not my first concern. I’m really
more interested in the opportunity, especially
for the internship.”
– “As long as the summer comp is fair and
competitive, I’ll be happy.”
Questions? See the career center
Staying alive
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Send a prompt thank you letter by mail!
Hit their radar screen every week or two
What to do if you’re seventh choice…
th
7
Choice?
Who Needs Aggressive Techniques
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Entrants
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Re-Entrants
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MBA interns and graduates
returning parents and caretakers
returning prisoners (who knew you had so much in common?)
the idle rich
Career changers
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New graduates
Dropouts
ADA-empowered entrants
especially career changers
In a downturn: Everybody
It’s YOUR Responsibility
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This is part of your MBA education, but it’s all
your responsibility to follow through
If you don’t have timely success, you must
follow through with the career center; they’re
there to help you
You get jobs by talking to people
You need 100+ leads at all times
Look for work in channels